Scratby Coastal Erosion Group

A strategy for promoting an integrated approach to the management of coastal areas in England DEFRA, 6th January 2009

The above link will take you to what purports to be our Government’s view on how to implement Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) in England.

This absolute debacle is not so much a strategy for ICZM, more an instruction manual on ‘how to over egg the pudding you’re not even making’!!

Surely we (the taxpayers) have a right to expect a constructive lead from our Government on issues as important to the well being of our island nation as coast management. What we are getting is a whole series of measures, plans, strategies and policies emanating from the centre which are unworkable, unacceptable and seem to increasingly prove how little comprehension exists within central Government and its Quangos of how the coast and it’s communities function, or what is needed to maintain their functionality through global warming, climate change and sea level rise.

Continue reading “How to waste taxpayers money with style and panache

FOR YEARS public meetings discussing the issues of coastal erosion, saline flooding and offshore aggregate dredging have attracted regular comments along the lines of “the Dutch would never do it like this”.

But until this week few people have taken the time and effort to visit Holland, speak to the relevant experts and assess the realities.

On Thursday North Norfolk MP Norman Lamb, who chairs the all party parliamentary group on coastal and marine issues, leading Norfolk coastal campaigner Malcolm Kerby and Graham Stuart, a Yorkshire MP who sits as Mr Lamb’s Conservative vice chairman on the same parliamentary group, did just that.

Continue reading “Seeing how Dutch do sea defence

On Thursday November 20, Mark Simmonds, Shadow Health Minister and Conservative MP for Boston & Skegness visited Scratby as part of his task to prepare a manifesto on coastal towns.

Mr Simmonds was accompanied by the prospective parliamentary candidate of the Conservative Party for Great Yarmouth, Brandon Lewis and his agent James Dinsdale. Also present were Shirley Weymouth, Great Yarmouth Borough Councillor, Jim Bratton and Trevor Martin from the Scratby Coastal Erosion Group, and Lyndon Bevan and Jack Bensly of the Hemsby Coastal Erosion Group.

Continue reading “Shadow Health Minister sees Scratby erosion risk at first hand

Our Annual General Meeting will be held on Friday, January 23rd 2009 at 7.30pm in the Village Centre, Station Road, Ormesby St Margaret.

It is hoped that as many residents will attend as possible to let us know your views.

Scratby Coastal Erosion Group have taken part in a study carried out by Ipsos Mori and commissioned by the Environment Agency ‘to understand the most appropriate ways to communicate with coastal communities about coastal erosion’.

Two members of the group took part in the 90-minute interview. It is understood that a number of other village residents took part in a similar meeting.

This study is being carried out in several areas of England including Scratby . The information will be confidential and anonymous and not attributed to Scratby in particular but will be used by the Environment Agency to understand more generally the information and support needs of Local Action Groups.

We are pleased to welcome Martin & Mandy Chalk as members of our group. They have a home in Scratby and also in London so will be a great help in representing us at Westminster meetings etc.

Their association with Scratby goes back 3 generations and they ‘very much look forward to working with the group to safeguard the future of the place we consider a small paradise’.

Again welcome, and well said.

SCEG were well represented at the three sessions of the presentation by Anglia Offshore Dredging Association (AODA) at Great Yarmouth Racecourse on Friday September 26th. Concerned residents of Scratby as well as others from other areas of Norfolk and Suffolk together with members of the fishing industry all voiced their concerned about the contribution that dredging may be making to coastal erosion and the loss of fish stocks.

Councillors and Officers from County, District, Borough and Parish Councils were also present together with representatives from the Crown Estates and the Environment Agency.

While one of the objectives of the meeting appeared to be to introduce a Marine Aggregate Regional Environmental Assessment (MAREA) being carried out by one of the industries consultants EMU Limited, the representatives from AODA were adamant that dredging does not cause coastal erosion.

The general consensus from the audience was that in order to prove the point beyond reasonable doubt an independent study was required. No conclusion was reached but hopefully the open discussion which took place will pave the way for further investigations. Ideally dredging should be suspended until the results of a totally independent study are forthcoming.

Two questionnaires are currently in circulation and can be completed by anyone who has an interest. The first is from EMU, telephone 01489 860050 and is due back by October 10th and the second from Marine Ecological Surveys Ltd, 01225 442211 is due back by October 27th and relates directly to Licence Area 202 (Crossands). These are both referred to as scoping studies.

Holding Back the Tide is operating across the three coastal counties of East Anglia: Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk. And CoastNet is very pleased to welcome on board Scratby Coastal Erosion Group and Ormesby Junior School who will be working in conjunction on the project as our most northerly communities located just north of Great Yarmouth.

Scratby was first developed for holiday homes in 1934 and has maintained a strong seaside and residential identity over time . However, this cliff-top community is now facing the ultimate tide of change as a result of cliff erosion and related land and house loss. Scratby Coastal Erosion Group is a community group of local residents established to address this major issue on coastal change.

Ormesby Junior School had already planned to study coasts and erosion during this year’s summer term and so were very keen to be involved with Holding Back the Tide. And like other schools, they can envisage how their project and the topic of their local coast will be able to link in with other curriculum areas. ‘We want to use our locality as much as possible and being part of this project would give a real focus and purpose to this area of study for the children’ said Mrs D Whiting, School Head.